Nagoya, Apr 30 (PTI) Indian golfer Rahil Gangjee started off with a solid four-under 68 that put him at Tied-fourth place and just two shots adrift of the prodigious Takumi Kanaya, who led after the first round of the Crowns Tournament here.

The 42-year-old from Kolkata was most pleased with a clean card that had four birdies and no bogeys.

"After waiting for an entire day which was cancelled due to bad weather it was a relief to get started," said Gangjee, who is one of the only three Indian golfers to have won in Japan.

"With the tournament reduced to 54 holes, a good solid start is vital and I was very happy to have a bogey free card.

"I am finding some of the rhythm coming back into my game. I had a couple of good rounds last week and now this week. Hopefully I can string it all together for the tournament."

Gangjee, who had two fine middle rounds of 66-68 last week in Kansai, is playing his third event of the year. He missed the cut at Token Homemate and finished T-47 at Kansai Open after being inside T-20 after three rounds.

Kanaya, who has already won once this season, at Token Homemate, was the solo leader with six-under after starting from 10th.

He had six birdies, five of them on his second nine against one bogey. Toru Nakajima and Chan Kim are lying second at 5-under each.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)